How to Find the Ideal Aesop's Fable for a Child
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Yes, this time the wolf WAS around to pounce on those sheep!
Read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" to your child if he has been lying. The story is about a boy who tends to sheep and has been fibbing about a wolf in the area. He fibs so often that the townspeople no longer come running when a wolf indeed does appear and devours the sheep. The child can learn about how harmful stretching the truth can be. - 2
Oh my! Look who won!
Try "The Tortoise and the Hare" for a kid who is rushing through his chores, such as his homework. This fable is about how a tortoise beats a hare in a race, because the tortoise is methodical and steady in reaching her goal. The moral for the child is that rushing through chores won't get the job done right. - 3). Enlighten a child who isn't prepared for future endeavors with "The Ant and the Grasshopper." That fable describes a hard-working ant storing food for the winter and a grasshopper who does nothing but sing through the summer months. And when winter arrives, the ant is well-fed and the grasshopper is begging him for food. The moral is there must be a healthy combination of work and play.
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The moral? Warmth is stronger than bluster.
Teach a child about the power of kindness by reading "The Sun and the Wind." The story is about a bet made between the wind and sun as to which one could entice a man passing by to remove his coat. The wind attempts in vain to achieve that goal by being blustery and cold, but the man simply wraps his coat tightly around his body. The sun emerges to radiate warmth, motivating the man to take off his coat. The moral is that warmth is more powerful than bluster. - 5). Read "The Lion and the Mouse" to a child who is bullying others or has shown a belief that might makes right. The fable tells of a mouse who becomes trapped by a lion's paw and begs to be released. He tells the lion that if she lets him go, he will repay her someday. The lion scoffs at the notion, but frees the mouse anyway. Days later, the mouse happens upon the lion who is ensnared in a net. He nibbles at the net until the lion is freed, proving indeed that size is no impediment to heroism.
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